Pondering your questions on online engagement
Pondering your questions on online engagement
One of the interesting benefits of participating in IAP2Australasia’s courses is thinking about the questions participants ask. We always have different people with different levels of experience from different sectors and different business experience and so they contribute to a rich tapestry of collective knowledge. Questions prompt enlightening discussions (and later thinking).
In a recent Sydney course, Dan Ludlow (R), who has a background in consumer marketing in the US, reflected on the similarities in online engagement in his new role with Urban Growth Development Corporate. Dan considers that the fundamentals of an engagement role using online methods are similar to consumer marketing principles: thinking about how to design for specific age groups and assessing what works well.
Xavier Bichon (L) has a background in journalism and could also identify commonalities. He currently works as a Communications Manager for Prince Lawyers International, encouraging businesses in France, Spain and Italy to set up in Australia. So ‘community’ in that business context of engagement has an overseas and a local context as well.
Danielle Bevins-Sundvall, a consultant from Canberra, considered: “As an engagement professional, how do you successfully moderate and facilitate online discussions when you can’t use the same physical cues that you can use in a face-to-face forum?” She said she enjoyed learning how to use non-verbal cues that were demonstrated by the trainer in the recent Facilitation course. In the break, Dan, Xavier and Dani discussed the challenge of recreating an emotional connection in online mediums that doesn’t necessarily reach the heart and mind of a person.
Given the statistics presented about the response to online methods for specific age groups showed such a disparity – especially the low results (18 per cent) for the smartphone generation – can you design a valid online engagement method and tailor for the age groups?
Rob Gravestocks, who delivers the Online Engagement course, was asked whether across all the courses run to date a participant had offered a way of capturing the heart and mind – and response – of the smartphone cohort.
Phillipa Boland, Elis Consulting, offered an example of a university online campaign to attract new students that involved current students whose photos were on the e-promotion. The various communications methods were written in the tone of voice of the ‘about 18’s’, speaking about the issues with the university experience that they think are important. This is the old ‘put a face to a name’ concept but adding a face and voice of a contemporary. Did that work? When prospective students visited the open day, the students profiled were there and leading discussions. The prospective students, who had been ‘activated’ to attend made an immediate connection with the real student but whether they enrolled or not is not known because there are many expensive factors in this decision. There’s obviously a lot more testing to do; success in one online method about one issue may not work for another.
What questions do our models prompt?
At our table, we talked about the Community Engagement Model and how we apply online engagement methods to these contexts.
We didn’t come up with an answer so we would welcome your views. Share your ideas on LinkedIn. Let’s start a conversation!
Upcoming courses
1 November Engagement Evaluation launches in Canberra.
Canberra 30 & 31 October Engagement Design
Canberra 1 November Engagement Evaluation
Christchurch 29 October Engagement Facilitation
Christchurch 30 October Engagement Essentials
Christchurch 31 October and 1 November Engagement Design
Adelaide 13-14 November Engagement Methods
Adelaide 15 November Conflict in Engagement
Wangaratta 4 December Engagement Essentials
Wangaratta 5 December Engagement Facilitation